Until He Died
by AVATAR 65
Summary: One Shot. That's it. That's the final straw. Uzumaki Naruto is tired of living, but can a certain girl give him second thoughts. Extremely slight romance.


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Author's Note: Hello guys, I know I posted this a while back, but I just decided to edit it, 'cause the spelling was horrible!! Anyways, here's the revised version. Hope you enjoy!!

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"Demon!!"

"Get away, you monster!!"

"Just burn in hell!!"

"Die!!"

Those where the words Naruto heard everyday of his life as he walked to his apartment. This was how he was treated, even though he'd saved the village countless times. Just last week, he fended off and defeated Sabaku no Gaara, the Sand's greatest weapon. But no, did he recieve regonition for that? No. Did he recieve a thanks from Sakura, the one who he fought so had to save? No. She thought it was her precious Sasuke-kun who did it. And him. Sasuke. He always called him a dobe, failure, and dead-last even though he's proven himself to Sasuke countless times. Tears he pledged he would never shed again found their way sliding down his whiskered cheeks, agony taking over his entire soul.

'I can't take it...anymore...' He though, not caring about the glares and harsh and cold words coming his way as he continued down the path leading to his apartment. 'I..just don't care...' "Demon, get away!!!" "We'll kill you, bastard!!"

'Why... why am I still here... why..all they do is hurt me, call me names, it hurts, it hurts... I wish the old man was still here...' Naruto sniffed, old man Sarutobi was gone now, to a better place. 'Sometimes...sometimes...I wish I could go there...' As he climbed the steps leading to his apartment, Naruto cringed as he read the words on his door.

**JUST DIE YOU DAMN DEMON!!! WE'LL KILL YOU!!**

"Heh, nothing a little soap and water can't fix, right?" Naruto tried to cheer himself up, but when he turned the doorknob, he saw it. His entire apartment looked as if it had been set aflame. Burn marks all over the walls. The new tv he had been saving his money for was now split in half, laying on the ripped apart carpet. His pictures of his team ripped apart, the glass scattered across the floor. In his kitchen lay all his ramen, now feeding unwanted rats and ants. His bathroom had been destroyed as well. Since his mop bucket was in the closet in the bathroom, Naruto made his way there.

As he opened the bathroom door, he felt cold water hit his toes. It seemed someone purposely stopped up his toilet, the water now running freely past the bowl, all over the tiled floor. His shower had been littered with dirt, and his walls had been covered with random threatning messages. As Naruto's dead eyes scaned the walls, more tears found their way down his cheeks.

**BECAUSE OF YOU, DEMON, ANOTHER HOKAGE HAS DIED!!! NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!!**

'But why...why would I want the old man to die...I helped save the village...' His body fell to its knees, silently trembling with terror and agony. 'Why...'

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"I wonder where Naruto is?" Sakura thought aloud as she Sasuke waited patiently for their late teamate and sensei. "Yo!!" Came the sound of Kakashi's voice. "Kakashi-sensei, have you seen Naruto, he hasn't got here yet.." Sakura began, a look of worry speard across her face.

Kakashi raised a brow.

"No, I haven't Sakura, and if he's later than I am, something must be wrong." Kakashi stated, now putting his book away. "Yeah.." Sasuke agreed, getting up from his usual postion of leaning on the bridge rail. "Okay, we'll split up, and search for him, we'll start looking for him at the training ground, Ichiraku's, and his apartment..."

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Naruto quietly walked towards his now glassless window and stared at the sky, no emotion in his eyes at all. Then, something caught his eyes, something...pink?

"Sakura..." Naruto trailed off, returning back into the shadows of his apartment...

Sakura was shocked as she walked up his steps, reading all the horrible things it said. Just reading them made her want to cry as she was filled with confusion. 'Naruto's not a demon, he is a annoying, but not a demon, what are they talking about?' She wondered as she turned the knob of Naruto's front door, ignoring the writing on it.

Once she stepped inside, she was surprised to find Naruto balled up in a coner, slightly trembling. "Naruto?" She asked, walking towards his sobbing form. She rarely saw Naruto cry, and even rarer than that did she she him in this hurt state of mind. "Sakura.." He sobbed. "I've had enough..." Sakura was shocked that he didn't put chan at the end of her name like he always did. She then knew something was very wrong.

"Naruto, what happened?" She asked with care, examing the condition of his apartment, everything in it broken and vandalized. "I have to see this just about.. about everyday.." He choked. "Even after I became a ninja.. they still kept doing it.." "But why?" Sakura asked again, trying to calm him down. Suddenly, anger formed from his agony as Naruto glared her way. "Don't act like you care!! You never treat me right!!! Even after all the things I do for you!!" He screamed, his voice shaky and rigid. His heart and mind in pain.

She was about to reply back when she realized he was right. She never treated him right. He's saved her countless times, and she repays him by turning him down for Sasuke, a person that barely utters a word in her direction. She insults him with hurtful, words, and he has to deal with that, plus the added bonus of the villager's treatment. She realized she would have had a breakdown on the first day. "Your...your're right, Naruto, I never give you the respect you deserve.." She began, her pink hair hiding her eyes due to the fact that her head was now hung low.

Naruto stared.

"Even when you save me, I refuse to believe it was you who did it, and instead, I thank Sasuke, or Kakashi-sensei, when.." Naruto blinked when he saw something wet fall from her face and hit the dirty floor. "When I should have been thanking you.." She looked up, her eyes now sheding tears as well. "Oh, I'm so sorry..." She cried. Naruto, even in this state, couldn't dare look at Sakura cry, so he slowing got up, and made his way towards her. "It's alright Sakura.. I forgive you.." He said, giving of a strained fox-like grin. He was lying and he knew it. He was lying straight through his teeth, but he'd do anything to make Sakura or anyone of his precious people happy. Even if they wouldn't do the same for him.

"But.. why... do you forgive me?" She questioned, her sobs finally coming to a stop as she recollected her self slowly. "Because, you're one of my precious people.."

Sakura could vaguely remembering hearing someone say that when she was pinned to a tree by Gaara's sand, and now she knew who it was. "Precious people?" She asked. "Yeah, I'll do anything to make those people happy, even putting their well being before my own.." He replied, cringing when he heard a brick fly throught another one of his front windows. Sakura turned, shocked. "Why do they, they do this to you?" She asked.

"Because, I'm a monster..." He revealed. Of course, Sakura didn't know he was talking about an actual monster inside him, so she just whispered. "Naruto, you're not a monster, you're a great person." She replied. "No, Sakura, I really am...Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox is within me..." He said, his eyes looking downward, his cheeks stained with dried up tears, his trembling starting again.

"Wha.." She gasped, her brain trying to process all this information. "You're the.." She said, fear taking over her entire body as she slowly backed away, staring intently at Naruto. 'I knew this would happen, she's just like everyone else..' He thought as a hurt smile appeared on his face. 'Well, I have no reason to live now... for sure...' He thought as he picked up a kunai beside him and threw it at a backwall.

She stopped herself just as the kunai pinned the backwall, but she paid no mind to it. "No, Naruto, you're not kyuubi, you're a completely different person." She said, a small smile forming on her lips. "It will be alright now, Naruto.. Naruto-kun." She ended his name with a suffix. Naruto's trembling stopped suddenly, before his head turned around slowly.

"Wha, do you really mean that Sakura..?" He asked. She answered with a nood of her head, knowing this was a time where he needed comfort. 'It is gonna be alright...' Naruto thought as he slowly got up, before cringing in pain. "NARUTO!! WHAT'S WRONG?!!" Sakura screamed, running to his aid. "Sa-Sakura, I did-dn't expect it-it to be like-" Suddenly, the Naruto before her exploded into smoke, leaving Sakura shocked.

'Wa, a Kage-Bunshin? Why would he-?' Then she remembered when the clone threw a kunai at a backwall, and she could've sworn she heard movement back there. 'Unless..!!" She then dashed into the back, and opened the door to find a horrible sight. Naruto had hung himself. His body lay dangling from the ceilling, not moving.

Sakura just stood there, hoping against all hope that this was some kind of sick, twisted joke, hoping to see Naruto run out and smile that big goofy smile of his, hoping to see him alive, but none of it ever came. She found herself falling to the floor, crying her heart out, screaming for him to come back. "NARUTO!!!"

It wasn't until he died that Sakura realized she truly loved Naruto. It wasn't until he died that she and the rest of the rookie nine realized what a great friend he was. It wasn't until he died that Konoha realized what a good person he really was. It wasn't until he died that the villagers respected him for all the things he had done for them.

And, it wasn't until he died that Sakura understood the full meaning of you don't know what you've had nearly as you do once it's been taken away from you.

That was my first shot at a sad fic. How'd I do? Please read and review.


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